Henry suffered from dyslexia as a child but was misdiagnosed. Winkler felt anything but cool during his own childhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan during the 1950s and 60s. "When I was growing up," he recalls, "no one knew what learning challenges were. So, I was called 'stupid,' 'lazy,' and 'not living up to my potential' - because I was very verbal, and I guess I had a sense of humor." As a result, Winkler often felt that the person he was inside was invisible to others. "Inside you feel one way, and people are telling you that you are another way," he says, "and I couldn't reconcile that."